This is a true story. One night in late June, 1976, my friend Carmine and me went to Greenwich Villiage in NYC. Late that night we found this little bar called the Red Witch. You had to step down three or four steps to enter. So we had a beer at the bar. The bartender was a Hell's Angel that used to put out cigarettes on his arm.
Anyway, I saw a sign over the bar that said "Flaming Suicide Honor Roll", with people's names and a number on it. So I asked, and the bartender said if I drank 7 Flaming Suicides I could get my name on the board. This was a drink that was a jigger (1 1/8 oz.) of vodka with some triple sec or schnapps mixed in. Then they lit it on fire, and you had to drink it on fire.
So, I drank 8 of them. I asked what the record was, and he said "50, it's mine". So I told him "I can take ya". He said fine, that I should be there next Friday night at 9.
So, by the next Friday, me, Carmine, and a couple of friends went back over the city. (I lived in Jersey). Anyway, I drank a few Colt 45's on the way over. We were late, and started wandering around the Village for a while.
Finally we remembered and went to the Red Witch, where we saw a sign in the window..."Flaming Suicide Championship, July 3rd., 9 PM, Brian blah blah vs. blah blah". I thought "holy shit...he was serious"! So we went in. The bartender was slightly perterbed. "You were supposed to be here at 9! The whole place was filled with people"! (College students from NYU).
I apologized, and asked if I could still do it, and he said yeah. So, we went for it. He lined them up by sevens, with beer on the side. I drank 32. That would be 36 ounces, over a quart, or around a liter. I felt fine, because vodka takes a while to creep up on you, but my friends were a little worried, it was pretty hot out. So they asked if I could take a break, to which he said ok, as long as when I was finished I could walk up the steps by myself.
So, we took a walk. On the next corner, I got a sausage and pepper sandwich, which probably wasn't the best thing to eat at a time like that. But we walked on, over to Bleeker Street. We walked up Bleeker for another block, and while we were crossing the street, I suddenly felt like somebody was pulling me back by the shoulder. I couldn't walk forward, but I managed to grab the lightpole and pull myself to the sidewalk.
Anyway, my friends wandered off for a while, (one of them got a blowjob in an alley). When they came back to get me, I was passed out on a black girl's lap on the hood of a car, as she cried..."get him some coffee"! Carmine brought his car up on Bleeker and double parked while they threw me in the back. I promptly locked the doors and nodded out, with the car running. Bleeker's a one way, so it backed up traffic for blocks, while they were banging on the car and kicking it. I finally unlocked the door. (Or so I was told).
I got third place in the championship, second place was 40, drank by a woman! Unfortunately, the Red Witch closed shortly afterwards. The next day after my performance, July 4th., 1976, was the American Bicentennial. By noon I was sitting on the Jersey Shore, watching Operation Sail, with all the ships sailing up the Hudson past NYC, while I drank Colt 45's.